Foreclosures Sonoma County Northern California

Posted in Real Estate Legal Discussion By Jim W Hildreth Real Estate Mediator, Monday, March 31, 2008.

Foreclosures a popular option in Sonoma County
By MICHAEL COIT
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
March 31, 2008

Lenders increasingly are unloading foreclosed homes as supplies continue to mount in Sonoma County — good news for buyers and bad news for homeowners trying to sell.

One in four homes sold in Sonoma County in February were foreclosed upon in the past 14 months. Every week in February, buyers purchased 16 houses or condos that had recently been in foreclosure, according to DataQuick Information Systems.

Some buyers are looking for a home to live in while others are seeking a deal on investment property with home prices now at the lowest level in five years.

James Madison, a Coldwell Banker agent specializing in foreclosure sales, is on pace to sell twice as many bank-owned homes this year as he did last year.

“There’s still a lot of properties in foreclosure and still a lot of properties that are going to go back to the bank. But there’s a whole army of buyers. The price is at the point where people are willing to make offers,” Madison said.

Lenders are increasingly willing to deal by significantly cutting prices rather than holding onto homes that are languishing on the sales block.

Two days was all Richard and Liz Fedrick needed to find a newer house in Cloverdale they liked and could afford, something they didn’t think possible after leaving Sonoma County four years ago in search of cheaper housing in Southern California’s high desert.

Last month, the couple, with their toddler, moved into the three-bedroom home they bought for $295,000 after the lender cut the list price 18 percent.

“We were expecting to have to settle for something older, something small. But there were tons of choices,” Richard Fedrick said. “It’s a great market.”

Still, the rest of the housing sector has a way to go before hitting bottom, agents said.

“In order for a market to level out, you have to get through the bank-owned homes. There’s going to be more and more inventory this year and next year,” said Rendino, an agent with CPS Property Advocates in Rohnert Park.

Every week in Sonoma County, lenders seize almost 50 homes and condos from borrowers who have stopped paying their mortgages, according to the county recorder’s office.